The Galvin Opinion

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Friday, April 02, 2004

GEORGE W. BUSH: THE REAL HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST

Liberals like Kos hate that a conservative, 'dumb,' born-again Christian saved the world

(President Bush has done much for human rights; for the born and unborn)

When I was visiting a friend in Hamburg, Germany during the summer of 2001 I spotted a German magazine that had a cartoonish picture of President George W. Bush on the cover. Bush was depicted as bedecked in a cowboy outfit, guns at the ready, standing on top of the planet Earth. The message was clear: The Texan was a menace to our sacred planet. From the moment that Bush became the Republican Party standard bearer he has been a favorite whipping boy of chattering classes on both American coasts, in the salons of Europe and elsewhere around the globe. Pompous liberals feared that the new President would plunge the world into chaos due to their preconceived notions of how a born-again Christian from Texas should behave. They thought he would wreak havoc on their pet projects involving, amongst others, the death penalty, environment, military affairs and even human rights. However, on September 11th, Bush was presented with a challenge very few presidents have had to deal with. He was forced to face down the rarest of moments in American history; when the country has been dealt a tragic blow beyond comprehension. Since 9/11 Bush has been beset by enemies, critics and naysayers on all sides who have bristled at his unique display of leadership and compassion. President Bush's actions in Afghanistan and Iraq and elsewhere on our cherished planet have done more for the advancement of human rights in the world than all of the hand-wringing, books, white papers, pamphlets, speeches, conversations and protests of all liberals put together. George Bush's human rights triumph is why some liberals like Markos Zuniga feel they must resort to shameful rhetoric - concerning the young men who were burned alive, mutilated and left to hang from a bridge - by saying the murdered Americans deserved their death. On his popular website, Zuniga, or "Kos", as he prefers to be called said, "I feel nothing over the death of mercenaries. . . Screw them."

Kos's website, "Daily Kos" is a very popular blog that is full of timely posts regarding the political issues of the day. His left-leaning politics aside, Kos writes with passion, has a very polished looking blog (despite the various spelling errors) and has made quite a name for himself. However, his craven explanation for what he said about the American men who were ambushed and killed in Fallujah is another story.

Kos tried to defend the indefensible without even apologizing for his inflammatory rhetoric. In fact, he even deleted the controversial comments in question which you can see, right here. While using the deaths of 5 American soldiers on the same day as the Fallujah massacre, he defensively said, "I was angry that these mercenaries make more in a day than our brave men and women in uniform make in an entire month." It's a pity that Kos has to resort to couching his argument about life and death over trivial matters like money. No one enters the business of the military or providing security in the most dangerous of situations solely because of the money. There are many jobs back here at home that these men and women can perform in relative safety for a lot more money. I would like to know what Kos thinks is the economic Maginot Line for when soldiers should receive sympathy for their death based upon their salary. Kos even has the audacity to continue his mean-spirited attacks by accusing the deceased men of abandoning their family in order to make big bucks in Iraq by saying, "I was angry that these mercenaries would leave their wives and children behind to enter a war zone on their own violition [sic]."

Kos refers to his upbringing in El Salvador as some sort of trump card to inoculate himself from being criticized for slighting the deaths of men on the battlefield. I know Central America very well having been born, and still having many family members, in Honduras. I am well aware of the scourge of Communism in that region and how Soviet influenced policies ruined those small countries for generations. However, no matter what country, region or continent you are from, the vast majority of human beings desire to enjoy peace and harmony with their neighbors. It doesn't matter if you live in El Salvador, Honduras, the United States or Iraq. Having experienced war does not mean that someone has a better notion of the meaning of life. Millions of Americans are lucky to not have known the horrors of war but they still have a great sense of what is right and wrong and the fragility of the precious gift that is life.

In order to drive a wedge between American soldiers and those who work for private firms Kos says that the men like those who died in Fallujah "willingly enter a war zone" as if they deserved their fate. However, America has a volunteer army. Everyone who serves in the armed forces joined willingly knowing full well that they could be sent into harm's way at any time, even for a war that they don't think should be waged. To accuse the men who died in Fallujah as "dangerous," and only seeking a "pay check", before they have even been laid to rest is disgusting.

Kos's explanation of his despicable words are just as bad. Perhaps he should listen to the charitable words of the family members of those who died in Fallujah and what they had to say about the Iraqi people and the fallen loved ones who died and supposedly abandoned them by going to Iraq for the money:

The brother of an American civilian killed in Iraq says the fiends who ambushed him and dragged his burned and mutilated body through the street took the life of "the biggest kind of hero." But he added that those responsible for the atrocity "are a small percentage" of the Iraqi people.

Donna Zovko described her slain son as "a man with a principle, an idea." "He loved people," she said. "He wanted the world to be without borders, for everybody to be free and safe." Jerry "would help out his worst enemy," his brother said.
"He held no grudge against anybody."

President Bush had no illusions before he attacked the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein's brutal regime in Iraq. He warned us many times that the going would not be easy, we would have to make sacrifices and that innocents would die. However, President Bush recognized that September 11th changed the world not because it was the first time that a big terrorist incident occurred (we all know how many countries have suffered through terrorism) but because a world superpower was attacked and it was now incumbent upon that superpower to make sure that no one else would further suffer in the way that the United States did when it lost 3,000 civilians in a matter of a few hours.

While Kos flippantly disregards the death of four men in Fallujah, President Bush is making sure that those men as well as the people of Iraq, our soldiers, murdered civilians of 9/11 and any future victims of terrorism will not die in vain. Detractors like Kos want to blame Bush for the ills visited upon us by those who love, crave and embrace evil. Years from now history will look kindly on President Bush for taking the necessary steps to risk his political career and life in order to make sure that the world says it will never tolerate the reign of evil thugs and terrorists ever again.
-TFG